Why is everyone afraid of rotary polishers? And what's this about not finishing properly?

[Calendyr]

Just got a Hitachi at a steal of a deal... $40!

Let me start by saying that I had never used a rotary before yesterday. My only experience with polishers has been with a PC 7424XP.

With the Hitachi, I applied Meguiars Ultimate Compound with an Orange CCS pad at 2,000 RPM, and it has been working out brilliantly. No swirls or holograms.

I hear all this hullaballoo about rotary being dangerous/not a good finishing tool/ leaves holograms and swirls/ takes years to learn, but I'm a n00b and am not experiencing any of these things.

Did I just get lucky, or am I missing something here?

There are dangers with rotary buffers. It's very easy to burn through an edge if you are using an agressive pad like a wool pad.

With foam pads, you would almost have to want to cause damage. I watched a video this winter where the guy put a rotary on a single spot for something like 20 seconds and it only did a little damage.

[TFTADetail]

Rotary + Black = AWESOMENESS

[JSMet]

I think if you are going to try it that you just have to do it. You have nothing to fear but fear itself. (I think someone else said this too. LOL) Seriously, though; I admire you for just getting out there and doing it with a rotary polisher. I bought a Flex rotary, and in the back of my mind was "If I get holograms, I'll erase them with my 3401", and that helped me with the decision to buy the rotary. I won't feel as if I can detail unless I can master a rotary polisher, and I know that I can and will make some mistakes. I'll going to do my best not to, but realistically; mistakes are how you learn and advance. I just do my vehicles, so there's a difference between me and a person who details other people's cars for a living. A mistake there can do serious harm to another's car as well as to a detailer's business and reputation. So I understand the reluctance. But for me, I HAVE to do this.